Traditional carbonate sedimentary archives have proven challenging to exploit for Zn and Cu isotopes, due to the high concentrations of trace metals in potential contaminants (e.g., FeMn coatings) and their low concentrations in carbonate. Here, we present the first dataset of δ⁶⁶Zn_JMC-Lyon and δ⁶⁵Cu_{SRM 976} values for cold-water corals and address their potential as a seawater archive. Extensive cleaning experiments carried out on two corals with well-developed FeMn rich coatings demonstrate that thorough physical and chemical cleaning can effectively remove detrital and authigenic contaminants. Next, we present metal/Ca ratios and δ⁶⁶Zn and δ⁶⁵Cu values for a geographically diverse sample set of Holocene age cold-water corals. Comparing cold-water coral δ⁶⁶Zn values to estimated ambient seawater δ⁶⁶Zn values (where Δ⁶⁶Zn_coral-sw = δ⁶⁶Zn_coral – δ⁶⁶Zn_seawater), we find Δ⁶⁶Zn_coral-sw = +0.03 ± 0.17‰ (1SD, n = 20). Hence, to a first order, cold-water corals record seawater Zn isotope compositions without fractionation. The average Holocene coral Cu isotope composition is +0.59 ± 0.23‰ (1SD, n = 15), similar to the mean of published deep seawater δ⁶⁵Cu values at +0.66 ± 0.09‰, but with considerable variability. Finally, δ⁶⁶Zn and δ⁶⁵Cu data are presented for a small subset of four glacial-age corals. These values overlap with the respective Holocene coral datasets, hinting at limited glacial-interglacial changes in oceanic Zn and Cu cycling.

由于潜在污染物（例如，Fe Mn涂层）中痕量金属的高浓度和碳酸盐中的低浓度，传统的碳酸盐沉积物档案库已证明对锌和铜同位素的开采具有挑战性。在这里，我们提出δ的第一个数据集⁶⁶锌_JMC-里昂和δ ^65个铜_{SRM 976个}值冷水珊瑚和解决他们作为海水存档潜力。在具有发达的富铁锰涂层的两个珊瑚上进行的广泛清洁实验表明，彻底的物理和化学清洁可以有效去除碎屑和自生污染物。接下来，我们本发明的金属/ Ca比值和δ ⁶⁶ Zn和δ ⁶⁵全新世时代的冷水珊瑚的地理分布样本集的Cu值。比较冷水珊瑚δ ^66个的Zn值来估计周围海水δ ^66个锌值（其中Δ ⁶⁶的Zn_珊瑚-SW  =δ ⁶⁶锌_珊瑚- δ ⁶⁶锌_海水），我们发现Δ ⁶⁶的Zn_珊瑚-SW  = 0.03±0.17 ‰（1SD，n  = 20）。因此，首先，冷水珊瑚记录的海水锌同位素组成没有分馏。平均全新世珊瑚铜同位素组成是0.59±0.23‰（1SD，Ñ  = 15），类似的平均出版深海水δ的⁶⁵Cu值为+0.66±0.09‰，但变化很大。最后，δ ⁶⁶ Zn和δ ⁶⁵铜数据表示为四个冰年龄珊瑚一小部分。这些值与各自的全新世珊瑚数据集重叠，暗示海洋锌和铜循环的冰间变化有限。